Walking around Gillies there are posters laid across the walls. Events are summarized into small boxes and they are written with the upmost professionalism… almost artificially professional.
At Gordon many students have brought up issues with the sheer amount of AI being used in day to day education. Some professors announce that they created lesson plans with it, but if professors are using AI to teach, why are students paying tuition instead of just using AI themselves for free? AI might not be able to give you a degree but is college really about the degree alone? That question doesn’t have a quick answer, but it definitely points to a much deeper issue. Education is supposed to be about learning and developing as people, but if learning becomes something that can be outsourced to a chatbot, then the value of a college education starts to feel unclear.
A recent study from the Brookings Institution argues that we need to start becoming worried. The report argues that while AI has benefits, the risks for students are serious. The main thing they found was how AI was undermining cognitive development. After speaking with some students and professors, this is a challenge they are facing. In courses like philosophy, which is a required core course here at Gordon, professors of the subject have openly asked students not to use AI. Partly because of cheating, but mostly because if a student is using AI to generate an argument, they aren’t learning how to build one themselves. As one student in the Brookings study put it: “It’s easy. You don’t need to use your brain.” Tools like calculators and computers have already reduced mental effort, but AI goes further; it replaces the entire thinking process.
Professors are actively trying to detect AI use, and they do this by using AI detection tools. These tools aren’t accurate; there have been reports of students being falsely accused of AI use for things as small as writing too formally or using an Oxford comma. Not to mention, these AI detection tools are created using AI. AI can have benefits. Especially if used for editorial reasons, but how much is too much?
Now that the technology is out there, there isn’t really a solid way to stop its use. However, if we can focus on ourselves and start working on our own development, we can really change the way we receive our education. In the end, maybe the real concern isn’t AI itself, but how easily we can become dependent on it. If students start thinking for themselves and using the tools given to them, then AI will hold no power against education.
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